


What does it Profit a Man?

by Daegaer



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Love, Male Friendship, Regret, The Them - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-27
Updated: 2004-03-27
Packaged: 2020-05-15 11:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19294396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: Brian resolves to speak to Adam.





	What does it Profit a Man?

Brian rolled his shoulders stiffly before settling back into the seat and watching the countryside speed past. The train was almost at Lower Tadfield, so he began to gather up the sweet papers and crisp packets strewn over the table, and shoved them into the carrier bag. Thank God for long weekends, right now he was heartily sick of working in the City. It'd be nice to let his mum spoil him for a few days, and to catch up with Adam.

He frowned at the thought of Adam. What a waste of a life, he thought. The others were doing well for themselves. Pepper had her sensible computer consultancy business, which paid for exotic holidays and exotic romances and kept her mother able to join newer and ever-flakier communes every couple of years. Wensleydale had surprised them all, and got himself contact lenses and a job with the BBC as a foreign affairs correspondent. His youthful seriousness endeared him to the viewers, and Brian was impressed and more than a little jealous of the calibre of his female fans. He himself was doing very nicely in the merchant bank.

But Adam. Adam could have done anything, gone anywhere. Brian thought about the never-ending summer days of their childhood, the terror of Adam's war against teachers, the A-Level results that meant he could have gone to any university he wanted the whole world over. And then -- nothing. Adam had gone to a teacher-training college, fleeing miserably home after each term, and was now a poorly paid, very junior teacher in the village primary school. He didn't even try for promotions. It was ridiculous, but Adam always just grinned at his friends' worries and said he liked it.

Brian thought he'd really have to have a serious talk with him. The last time they'd seen each other he'd felt he had got through to Adam, but nothing had changed.

'Do you really want to spend your whole life here?' he'd asked.

'Yes,' Adam had said, a calm expression on his face. 'I love it here.'

'But the pay's crap! Don't you want a better standard of living?'

'I have everything I need,' Adam had laughed. 'I'm not greedy, I don't want the whole world, Brian.'

Brian looked at the familiar scenery outside the window, thinking of what they'd said then.

'Come up to London, Adam, I know some girls who'd love to meet you. There aren't any girls worth knowing left in the village.'

Adam had given him a rather forced grin, and muttered something about maybe, sometime, when he wasn't so snowed under with work. Brian had screwed up his courage to ask what he meant to ask every time he came home, and never had the nerve to actually say out loud. It didn't come out right this time, either.

'You know, you're not a complete troll, Adam. With better clothes and a better job the girls would be throwing themselves at you. Let me introduce you to some friends, OK?'

'No,' Adam had said. 'I don't think it would work out right.'

'Don't you want to meet a nice girl?' Brian had said after a pause. 'None of us are getting any younger. Don't you want kids? Don't you want to get married?'

He still felt guilty about the flash of unhappiness in Adam's eyes, which had cut off the chance of continuing the conversation. He didn't want to make him miserable.

'Yeah,' Adam had said. 'I want kids. You wouldn't believe -- but it's not really a good idea. I think I'd be a really bad father. Anyway,' he said, managing to get his old grin back, 'I have all these kids, and I get to send them back to their parents and not have to deal with their crankiness all day. So it's a win-win situation.'

Brian had given him a friendly punch in the shoulder and bought him an awful lot of beer that evening.

The train drew into the station, and Brian collected his rubbish, vaguely noting that the crisp packets seemed to have multiplied around him again. He'd go home and freshen up, and then go and find Adam. He wouldn't be put off this time, he'd tell him they all knew he was gay and none of them cared. Adam didn't have to hide away from the modern world; he should have the sort of life he deserved. He could have anything he wanted, he _deserved_ to have what he wanted, and this time Brian wasn't going to leave without telling him so.


End file.
